The Olympian Ball
by freezingpizza14
Summary: It's time for the summer event, the Olympian Ball! Sorry if this summary isn't good, but I explain better in the story's author's note. A Percabeth multi-chaptered event that I kind of stole from Harry Potter 4. *Alot better than it sounds!* :
1. Chapter 1: A date for the Ball

***Due to horrible writer's block on A New Change, I'm starting this. I have to be honest and say I have no idea on what to put, I'm just going to write the story idea I have in my head and build up on it from there. I also got this idea from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, since I am currently rereading it. Well, on with it, then. (Omg, I'm starting to talk like a british person! Stupid Harry Potter! lol) Yeah . . . sorry if I type odd things like 'brilliant.' Haha. Please review and comment, but _no flames_! Thanks a bunch. :)**

**-Loads of Percabeth, of course! -**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Rick's or J.K. Rowling's, I just got the idea from J.K. and is using Rick's characters. XD***

The Olympian Ball

*Chapter 1 - A date for the Ball*

**(Percy's POV)**

"You going to the Ball, Percy?" Grover asked me. We had given up trying to get the Aphrodite girls to climb the lava wall, as they would ruin their 'perfectly manicured nails,' so we were talking about an upcoming event - the Olympian Ball. It was, apparently, a major god and demigod event that Aphrodite had somehow convinced Zeus to do every year during the summer. Not that I fancy it much, anyways.

"No way," I said. "I don't do dances, and I couldn't dance if I tried."

"You'd danced with Annabeth twice," Grover pointed out smugly.

I resisted an urge to smack him. He was right, of course. I'd danced with Annabeth at Westover Hall, this school Annabeth, Thalia and I had gone to find Nico and his sister, Bianca. Bianca had died on a quest after she joined the Hunters, and Thalia joined later on Olympus, where I'd danced - probably a whole lot better - with Annabeth after we saved her.

"Yeah, well, this is different. This is a _Ball. _Where we have to dress up. I don't own a tuxedo, man," I said.

Grover grinned. "Ah, see, that's actually where the girls come in . . ."

"Girls?" I asked suspiciously.

"Annabeth, Katie, Juniper, and Clarisse. They know us, Travis and Chris were going to try to bail, so they're getting us tuxedos and _forcing _us to go."

"What?" I moaned. "But I don't even have a date!"

Grover clapped me on the back and grinned. "Then you'd better ask someone soon, dude, or all the good ones will be gone."

I shifted weight nervously. "So, uh, does Annabeth have a date, by any chance?"

Grover raised an eyebrow. "Nope. Not yet. But I heard Will Solace from the Apollo cabin was going to ask her."

I nodded indifferently, but my heart was beating hard in my chest. "Oh."

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"No reason! I mean, I was just wondering," I said quickly.

Grover nodded, but he was smiling like he didn't believe it. "Uh huh. You want to ask her, don't you?"

"No!" I said. My face felt hot.

"Then why did you ask?"

"Because . . . because I was just curious, okay?"

Grover grinned. "Sure, man. And, um, if you want to know, I heard from Travis and Connor that a lot of girls here are waiting for you to ask them to the ball," he whispered.

"Really? Brilliant!" I said. "Maybe now I can get a date." Because that didn't mean I wanted to ask Annabeth. I mean, I don't want to . . . she was my best friend. I couldn't. Could I?

Grover's rumor appeared to be true. As I entered the Big Hall, I saw a cluster of Aphrodite girls looking at me and giggling. I blushed and sat down at the Poseidon table, trying to eat and ignore the stares. When I was finished, I left for the beach. It was always most quiet there. Ways away, near the Athena cabin, I saw that Annabeth and the others were back and huddled together, talking and laughing about something.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I hid behind the Athena cabin and listened closely.

"Oh my gods, this is going to be so much fun!" That was Katie's voice.

"Yeah, it's _so _much fun to dress up only to embarrass yourself in front of everyone." Deffinitely Clarisse.

"Just because you can't dance, Clarisse-" Juniper's voice said, but another cut her off: Annabeth.

"Juniper! It's okay, Clarisse. We'll teach you how to dance. And when Chris sees you in your dress, he's not going to be able to take his eyes off you," she said.

I'm pretty sure Clarisse rolled her eyes then. I had a sudden thought, of Clarisse in a strapless red dress with matching shoes, and I shuttered. Now, that was something I thought I'd _never _see - or even picture in my head - in a milion years. Juniper's voice brought me back to the conversation.

"Well, I'm going with Grover. Katie's going with Travis, and Clarisse is going with Chris. Who are you going with, Annabeth?"

My heart skipped a beat.

"No one, yet," she replied. I almost nearly sighed in relief. Until she started speaking again. "Well, I heard from Grover that Will Solace was going to ask me."

"Will? Oh my gods, he is gorgous!" Katie gushed. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Annabeth laughed. "Yeah, I know. But if he does, I'm turning him down."

"_What?"_ Juniper, Katie and Clarisse all cried.

Annabeth sighed. "I know, I know. But, well, I'm waiting for . . . someone else to ask me."

"Who?" Katie asked.

There was a pause, then Juniper squealed so loudly she almost burst my eardrums. "_Oh my gods, _you want to go with Percy!"

"Juniper! Lower your voice!" Annabeth said. "Spill it out to the world, why don't you?"

"Gods, Annabeth," Clarisse said.

I didn't hear anything for a while after that. My brain was completely fuzzy. There was a buzzing in my ears, but I figured that was just the sound of blood rushing to my head.

She'd been waiting . . . for _me _to ask her? All this time?

I heard a new voice, a very familiar voice, and I tuned back in to the conversation.

"So, um, Annabeth, I was just wondering . . . would you like to go to the ball with me?" Will's voice asked.

I could hear my heart beating again, almost as if it were trying to jump out my chest.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Um, actually, Will, I-"

"She's going with Percy!" Katie blurted.

"Katie!" Annabeth said, blushing. She turned back to Will. "I mean, not yet, but-"

Will smiled. "Yeah, I get it. You want to go with him."

Annabeth smiled back apoligetically. "Sorry, Will. Really, I appreciate you asking anyway. I'm sure there are plenty of girls here that would love to go with you."

"I highly doubt that," Will sighed.

"Dude, don't judge yourself too harshly. I'm pretty sure you can," Clarisse said. Katie and Juniper smirked.

"No, that's not what I meant. Annabeth, if I were you, I'd ask Percy as soon as possible. A lot of guys are having a hard time getting dates because all the girls want Percy. A lot of them are going to ask him tonight," Will said.

"_What?"_ Annabeth nearly shouted, standing up. Juniper and Clarisse quickly grabbed her wrists.

"Calm down, princess," Clarisse muttered. "Don't get so heated up. Knowing Prissy, he probably doesn't even have a date yet."

"Thanks, Clarisse," I muttered, much too low for the others to hear.

"Wait, how do you know their going to ask him tonight?" Katie asked Will.

Will rolled his eyes. "What, you all haven't heard them? It's all the girls have been talking about. Kind of hard to miss, actually."

Juniper frowned. "We haven't heard about it."

Will shrugged. "Well, just giving you a heads up, Annabeth. A lot of girls will be swarming him the next couple of days, so I'd get a move on if I were you. The longer you delay, the more he'll think you don't want to go with him, and-"

"He'll eventually say yes to someone else," Annabeth whispered.

Will nodded. "Yeah. Well, um, I'll see you later. I have some girls to attend to." He trotted off.

Annabeth sat down again, looking pale. She stared at the ground. "What am I going to do?"

"Get a move on, that's what!" Katie said. "Go on, before it's too late."

Annabeth sighed and looked at her. "You think?"

"We know," Juniper and Katie both said. "Now go get your guy before someone else does."

Annabeth took a deep breath and stood. "Alright. Okay, I will."

She walked towards the Poseidon cabin, and I panicked. How was I supposed to slip away when Clarisse, Juniper and Katie would be able to easily see me?

A god, one probably in a _really _good mood for some reason, must have helped me out, because the girls were all suddenly getting up and leaving. I quickly rushed to the Poseidon cabin before one of them turned around and caught me sneaking away.

As I was ten feet away from my cabin - I was _so_ close - a voice stopped me. "Percy! Just the guy I was looking for!"

I turned, and Drew from the Aphrodite cabin was strolling towards me.

"Hi," she purred. "Um, I've been meaning to ask you something."

I was eagar to get into my cabin, but I took a deep breath and put on what I hoped was a normal smile, not one that said _Go away._

"Hey, Drew. What's up?"

When she spoke, her voice was soft and purring. "I was just wondering, would go to the ball with me?" She put her hand on my arm gently, almost seductively, and I couldn't help but notice how warm her skin was, or how her pink eyeliner was _really _distracting.

I couldn't find words at first, so when I finally said something, I must have sounded like a kid who'd hit too much of the 'happy juice.' "Urm . . . urg . . ."

Drew laughed softly. "It's alright. Boys do that alot around me. So, is that a yes?"

I don't think I could have - or would have - answered anyway with Drew's fingers moving softly down my arm.

Unfortunately, Annabeth had to walk out of my cabin just in time to see Drew's hand on my arm. I didn't even want to imagine what my face must look like right about now.

She looked back and forth between us. "Percy?" she asked, frowning at Drew. She must have known what Drew was asking me as soon as she saw Drew's hand on my arm.

I cleared my throat and stepped back from Drew until her hand was no longer in contact with my skin. Her hand dropped back to her side as she glared at Annabeth.

"What do you want? I was asking Percy a very important question," Drew snapped at Annabeth.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Oh yeah? Well, Percy, what was your answer?"

"He already chose _me, _so don't even bother!" Drew huffed, also crossing her arms.

"Umm, actually Drew . . . I'm sorry, but I kind of was about to ask Annabeth," I said awkwardly.

Drew's brown eyes narrowed. "I see. Well, I'll already have another date, but if - when - you get tired of _her_-" She nodded towards Annabeth, "-then I'll save a dance just for you."

She turned on her heel and walked back to her cabin. I took a deep breath and turned back towards Annabeth, who was working hard to hide a smile.

"You were really going to ask me, Seaweed Brain?" she said.

I swallowed. "Well, yeah. But I figured you already had a date."

She ran into my arms. "No. I was just waiting for you to ask me," she murmured.

I felt a thrill go through me. I had a date to the ball.

The thrill quickly vanished, and I groaned.

Annabeth looked at me. "What's wrong?"

"I have a date," I said.

Annabeth raised another eyebrow. "So?"

"That means I have to actually _go _to the ball."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I've been to one before. It'll be fun, you'll see."

"Doubt it," I muttered.

Now I had one big problem to deal with. Making it through the ball without completely embarrassing myself.

***Chapter 2 coming soon. :)***


	2. Chapter 2: I get strangled by a bow tie

***Here's chapter 2. :) Please please please comment, cause I need to know if this story's any good or not. Thanks! And just a reminder, this is not a crossover between Percy Jackson & Harry Potter, - Hmm, new idea alert! - I'm just taking the idea of a ball from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And all of this story will be in Percy's POV.**

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!***

*Chapter 2 - I get strangled by a bow tie*

Now that I had a date, thankfully Annabeth, I felt less nervous than before. I didn't have to worry about the pressure of asking someone to the Ball. Though as soon as Will Solace asked Drew she immediately said yes, and batted her eyelashes at me as I went by, as though she were trying to make me jealous.

Annabeth, walking with me, gave out an exasperated sigh and pulled me away by the hand, much to Drew's displeasure. She huffed and tossed her hair back before stomping off.

"So, Seaweed Brain, are you ready?" Annabeth asked.

"Ready for what? The Ball? Then no."

Annabeth laughed. "That's not what I meant. I mean, are you ready for your fitting?"

I came to a hault right then and there. Annabeth, suprised that I stopped so abruptly, stopped too and turned towards me with a grin on her face.

"_Fitting?_" I said. "No way. I don't think so, Wise Girl."

Annabeth sighed. "Stop being such a baby. We just have to make sure your tux fits you."

"Yeah, and if Clarisse is 'helping,' then I'll have pins stuck in me for sure."

Annabeth's grin grew wider. "Oh, your invincible. You wouldn't be able to feel it anyways, so stop being a chicken and come on. Grover, Travis and Chris are already there."

She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the Athena cabin, where Grover, Travis and Chris were already getting their fitting. The girls, Clarisse, Katie and Juniper, were shoving pins into their legs and wrapping measuring tape around their waists - with their arms by their sides, so that their arms were tightly wrapped too.

I busted out laughing. I had to admit, coming in here had been deffinitely worth it. They actually looked scared, like any second now the girls were going to cover their faces in makeup as a torture session.

They all glared at me. "Laugh it up, Percy. But our fitting is almost done. Then we'll be able to watch Annabeth torture _you,"_ Travis said smugly.

Once I was able to catch my breath, I gasped, "Do you need a makeover, too? Cause I can gladly ask the Aphrodite girls to come in here and give you one." I was laughing so hard I had to lean against Annabeth so that I wouldn't fall over.

"NO!" they shouted together. "No makeup! We'll do anything!"

Annabeth, Clarisse, Katie and Juniper were laughing as hard as I was. The guys glared at us, but I ignored it, even though I knew they would get me back someday.

Katie was laughing with her eyes closed, so she didn't see herself jam a pin into Travis's side.

"OUCH!" Travis yelled. "Gods, Katie, open your eyes so you can see where your putting those pins," he said, wincing as he carefully pulled out the pin with his free hand.

Katie choked down her laughter and tried to be serious. "Sorry, Travis. Anyways, you guys are done. You can go. Go on, your free."

The guys sighed in relief and took off the measuring tape and pins. They went behind the curtain that divided the cabin from boys and girls to rechange. I quickly stopped laughing and gulped. Now it was my turn.

The cabin door was wide open, so I did the only thing I could think of: I ran.

Annabeth must have knew I would try and run, though, because she grabbed me around the waist and held on fast as Clarisse and Katie quickly went to shut the door.

I saw Nico walking past, and I yelled, "Nico! Their trying to make me do a _fitting_! _Help!"_

Nico looked at me as Annabeth smirked and dragged me back inside the cabin. Clarisse and Katie waved cheerfully to Nico as they shut the door.

Through the window I could see Nico staring at the closed door in suprise, then he busted out laughing and walked away.

"Traitor," I growled as Juniper handed me a long clothes bag. Annabeth pushed me behind the curtain as Grover, Travis and Chris came out. They grinned at me mockingly as they passed.

"Good luck," Travis said to me. "Cause you'll need it."

"Okay, ladies, we are leaving," Chris said, heading for the door, but Clarisse blocked his path.

"Oh no, you don't. We have a few extra suprises in store for all of you before the Ball."

Grover swallowed nervously. "Suprises?"

Juniper smiled. "Yep. And it's all thanks to Percy."

_Oh my gods, I am so dead,_ I thought. I sighed when I was finished dressing, and stepped out from behind the curtain.

Clarisse snickered, of course, but Annabeth was staring at me in awe.

I blushed. "It doesn't look _that_ bad, does it?" My tux was, of course, black. But in the breast pocket there was a sea green pocket hanky. I squirmed, feeling self-concious. "Um, the whole tuxedo with a pocket hanky thing isn't working for me."

Annabeth blinked a few times to clear her head and came over to me. She straightened my Jacket and made sure there wasn't even a hair on it.

"Percy, you look fine. Now stay still, and stop squirming. I need to put the bow tie on."

"Bow tie? I don't think so," I said, grimacing at the thing in her hands.

Annabeth sighed. Clarisse quickly grabbed my arms while Annabeth tied the bow tie - too tightly - around my neck.

"This isn't necessary, you know!" I said. If I hated bow ties then, I definitely hate them now.

"Shut it, punk," Clarisse said. "It took us over an hour to find this bow tie, so you're wearing it."

"Well, you didn't have to _get _the bow tie in the first place!"

"Can I smack him?" Clarisse asked Annabeth casually, as though she did it often.

Annabeth laughed. "No. Don't worry, he'll be with the rest of the boys soon to get their 'suprise.'"

I glared at Annabeth. "Suprise?"

Clarisse laughed. "Oh yeah. Katie, how's it going back there?"

"Fine! Almost got them good and tight," Katie called back. She'd taken the boys behind the curtain to do who knows what, and I had a feeling it wasn't good.

I tugged my arms slightly in Clarisse's grasp, wondering if I could escape, open the door, and bolt before the girls caught me again.

Clarisse grunted and squeezed my arms so hard I thought she stopped the blood circulation.

Nope. I wasn't going anywhere.

"Okay, just a quick tug . . ." Annabeth muttered, and the bow was secured. She stepped back to study her work.

"Hmm. I think the bow needs to be a little tighter," she said.

Clarisse suddenly moved, though somehow still holding my arms against my sides. I saw hands - that did _not _look like girl hands - move and tug at my bow tie. The hands pulled the bow, making it so tight I couldn't breathe.

"Can't - Breathe!" I gasped out. The hands let go, and I spun around to see Connor Stoll.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "And _why _did you strangle me?"

Connor shrugged. "I thought it would be funnier if you thought Clarisse did it."

I did, for a moment, think it was Clarisse until I saw the hands.

"Excuse me?" Clarisse scoffed.

Connor grinned. "You're talking to the master of pranks, here. And I'm here because I'm looking for Travis. We were going to put syrup on Clovis's face while he was sleeping."

"Like he would notice. He'd just fall back asleep," Annabeth said, messing with my hair and attempting to push it flat. Stubbornly, I shook my head hard and messed it up again. For some reason, I suddenly had a strong desire to stick my tongue out at her like a five-year-old. So I did, then she did the natural thing. She stuck her tongue out back. I smiled at her.

"Mmmm! C-mm-or! H-lp!" came a muffled voice from behind the curtain.

Connor frowned. "What was that?"

Katie came out from behind the curtain holding duck tape in one hand and eye liner in the other. "Oh, nothing. Just experimenting. You should go, Travis will be looking for you," she said innocently, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

Connor looked at all of us. "Um, what's going on here?"

"Just a simple fitting for the ball," Annabeth said breezily, wrapping an arm around my waist. "And Percy's going to be here for a while. So go find Travis, and we'll catch up with you later."

Connor shrugged and left. That's when I suddenly realized he'd left the door open. I started to move, then stopped and glanced at Annabeth suspicously. Then it came to me quickly, and that's when I knew. She'd put her arm around me - so tight that she crushed me to her - so that I wouldn't try to escape, knowing Connor would leave the door open. That also explained why my arms were starting to go numb - Clarisse's hands felt like a tourniquet.

But that didn't explain the duck tape, eyeliner, and the muffled voice behind the curtain.

"Katie, Juniper, are they ready?" Annabeth asked.

Juniper, who'd been helping Katie, emerged from behind the curtain too, a smile on her face. "They're ready."

Annabeth smiled, and I didn't like the looks of it. I had a very, very bad feeling.

"Percy, go on ahead and redress, and then we'll give you your suprise," she said, pushing me behind the curtain. I was about to turn around and ask her what the suprise is, but sight of the boys caught me up short. I stood frozen.

They were all staring at me, a _get out now while you can _look on all of their faces. Their mouths were covered in tape - that explained the duck tape and muffling - and there was eyeliner drawn on them.

With a terrible jolt, I realized what the 'suprise' was that the girls had in store for us.

I rushed over to them and brought out Riptide. I guess the girls hadn't given thought of me cutting them free. I was just cutting through the tape when hands grabbed my arms and pulled Riptide out of my grasp.

"I don't think so, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said from somewhere behind me. "Girls, tie him up and put a cover over his tux. I don't want the makeup to ruin it."

"Your crazy!" I said. "You tied us up just to give us _makeovers?"_

Annabeth stepped in front of me and leaned foward until her face was just inches from mine. "Yep. It's tradition. We usually have Connor too, but he managed to get out this year."

"We'll get him next year," Clarisse said.

Annabeth smiled. "Right. Let the makeover begin."

I swallowed.

Gods. I'd rather get strangled by the bow tie.

***Chapter 3 coming soon. Comment!***


	3. Chapter 3: The prank war

*Chapter 3 - The prank war*

**(Time until the Olympian Ball: 3 days)**

Let me tell you, having to walk across camp to get to the bathroom with our faces covered makeup is _not _fun if you're a boy. We got stares from everyone, and people giggled behind their hands at us. And by us, I meant Grover, Travis, Chris and myself. We had on over ten pounds of makeup - why do some girls wear so _much _of it? - and were difinitely attracting a lot of attention.

We rushed to the bathroom and wiped off as much makeup as we could manage. Of course the girls _had_ to put the waterproof mascara on us.

"This blows," Travis said, scrubbing his face so hard I thought he would peel his own skin off.

"Yeah. Why do they _always _do this to us?" Grover said.

I smirked. "This is my first time. I'd figured you guys would be used to it by now."

All of them punched my arm. "Yeah, right. It may be their little _tradition, _but this year, we're starting one of our own," Travis said smugly.

I grinned. "I'm listening."

"Okay, so this year, we're going to get payback on the girls," Chris started. "They basically kidnapped us, so we're going to kidnap _them."_

"Um, and what are we going to do then? The Ball's three days away, and I actually have a date. I don't want to mess that up," I said.

Grover rolled his eyes, but it was Travis who answered. "Oh, stop worrying. Annabeth will forgive you. She always does."

I swallowed. "And this prank we're pulling . . . it could make us end up losing our girl- uh, I mean, our dates," I said, blushing.

Chris grinned. "Dude, it's cool. Technically she _is _your girlfriend."

"Having a date to a dance is totally different from dating the girl. It's not the same," I pointed out.

"It is too," Grover said.

"Well, really if you think about it, it would actually be just a date. After the date is when they'd be together," Chris said.

"No way, dude. I say if their going together then their automatically a couple," Grover argued.

"Or it could be just a stupid Ball and Annabeth asked me to go just as a friend," I said.

Grover and Chris quickly shook their heads. "No way. She's totally into you, man. I bet she's going to kiss you when you're slow dancing or something."

Grover grinned. "Is that a bet?"

Chris smirked. "Heck yeah, it is. I bet ten bucks that they end up kissing sometime during the ball."

Grover stuck his hand out. "You're on. I bet they end up kissing before the ball."

"Guys!" I said, blushing madly. "Not cool!"

"Yeah, seriously," Travis added. I sighed in relief. At least _someone_ wasn't taking part of this ridiculous bet.

And _Travis_, of all people.

"You forgot to include me," he added. Okay . . . maybe not. "I bet that they're going to kiss _after _the ball."

Grover and Chris grinned. "You're on."

They shook on it. Agrivated, I said, "seriously, you guys? I thought we were planning to get back at the girls."

"We are, we are," Travis said. "Alright boys, let's get back to business. We have to make this prank something ten times better then what the girls did. Now, here's what were going to do . . ."

. . . . . . .

"Hey, Annabeth," I said, coming up to her. She was filling in for Chiron, teaching the younger campers archery.

She smirked at me. "Hey, Seaweed Brain. So, you finally got all of the makeup off, huh?"

I smiled innocently, to let her know I didn't let it get to me, which, of course, was a lie. Bring on the Prank War, Wise Girl.

"Yes, I did. Thanks for that, by the way."

She stared at me in shock, then quickly recovered and kept her face blank. "Oh, yeah? And why are you thanking me for putting makeup on you?" she asked, her voice curious.

"Because I'm going to get even," I said quietly.

Annabeth laughed. "Is that so? I would like to see you try, Seaweed Brain."

Quickly, so she couldn't escape or pull her knife, I grabbed her and hauled her over my shoulder.

"Hey!" she yelled. "Put me down!"

I grinned. "Sorry, can't do that, Wise Girl. The Ball is in three days. We decided to get you girls back before then for your prank on us," I explained as I walked to my cabin.

Annabeth stopped struggling for a moment. "You are _so _dead. And when the time comes, we _will_ get you back. We won't stop until we have the last prank and you'll be begging for surrender!"

I laughed. "Oh yeah? Well then, let the Prank War begin."

"Fine. You're on. And you're so going to lose," she said.

I laughed again. "We'll see."

She was quiet for a while, and that scared me more then her threats did. "Why so quiet?' I finally asked.

"I was just debating whether or not to 'accidentally' poke my knife into your Achilles spot."

I stopped and swallowed nervously. "You wouldn't."

"You never know. I could threaten to stab you if you don't put me down, but you and I both know I wouldn't ever do that."

I sighed in relief and grinned. "Thanks. But I'm still going through with this prank." I started walking again.

"You didn't let me finish," she murmured. "All it would really take is one punch, from the person that keeps you mortal, If I remember right-" I flinched. Gods, _why _did I tell her that? "-and I can have you on your knees."

It was true-sort of. If she punched me in the small of my back, probably not even that hard, then It would drive me to my knees. It would also feel like electricity is running up my spine. It wouldn't kill me though. It would probably just hurt. A lot.

"And what would you do then?" I asked.

"Hmmm . . . I don't know, really," she said. "Probably drag you to the Aphrodite cabin, throw you in there, and tell them to have at it."

"Oh my gods. I would get an even worse makeover."

Annabeth laughed. "Yeah, but I'd still go to the ball with you anyway."

My stomach lurched. "Seriously?"

"Of course, Seaweed Brain."

I didn't answer. Thank the gods she didn't see me grinning like an idiot.

"Hey, you got her?" Travis called from my cabin as I approached.

I grinned. "Yep. So what are we going to do with them?"

"You'll see," Travis said, winking at Annabeth. "And maybe you silly girls will learn not to mess with us boys. We can prank people better."

Annabeth laughed. "Is that so? So this _isn't_ about payback, then. It's just a chance for you to try to be more superior then girls."

Travis scoffed. "I am not! That is so sexist. I'm just trying to prove we're the better prankers."

I couldn't see Annabeth's face since she was still draped over my shoulder, but I'm pretty sure she rolled her eyes.

"Well, we'll see. I bet you'd still end up losing."

"Don't say bet! Please do not encourage him!" I said quickly. "I seriously don't want another bet put on me."

"You bet on him?" Annabeth asked Travis as I took her inside my cabin. "About what?"

Travis smirked. "About you two. I made a bet with Chris and Grover. But I can't tell you, cause you would probably kill us, make sure that none of us wins the bet, and probably end up dumping Percy."

I set her down on my bed. She looked at Travis, confused. "But we're not-"

"Anyways!" Travis said loudly, cutting Annabeth off. "I'm going to wait outside for the others to return. Chris was supposed to get Katie for me." He quickly exited the cabin. I shifted weight nervously, standing by the door in case Annabeth tried to run.

Annabeth had an amused look on her face as she watched me. She crossed her arms. "Seriously, Seaweed Brain? You're fidgety over us being alone in here, rather than me trying to escape with my invisibility hat? Cause I could, you know. Very easily."

I bit back a curse. How did she know that? Because, technically, it was against the rules for two people to be, like, _alone _in a cabin.

"No, I don't think you would," I bluffed, but leaned against the door just in case.

She raised an eyebrow. "No? Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you wouldn't leave the other girls here defense-less, and you're probably planning it out, waiting for the right moment to escape," I said.

She looked shocked. "How did you know that?"

I grinned. "Because I know you, Wise Girl."

She scoffed. "Whatever, Seaweed Brain. I'll get you back someday anyways."

I sat down beside her on the bed and rubbed my arm awkwardly. "You know, what Travis said before, about you dumping me . . . I know we're not, like, a couple or anything. He was just kidding. Him, Grover and Chris made a bet that all of them will probably end up losing."

Annabeth laughed. "Well, that'll be fun to watch."

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, yeah it will."

It was awkward. I ran out of stuff to say. I noticed that Annabeth could have gotten up anytime while I was talking and run out the door, but she didn't. And she didn't now. Instead she looked at me, and my heart skipped a beat.

"You know," she said softly, nervously tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, "I didn't completely think what Will said was true, at first. When he told me that almost all of the girls at camp were going to ask you to the ball, I mean. Then, when I walked outside and saw you talking to Drew, I knew it _was_ true, and that . . ."

"And that what?" I murmured anxiously.

"Well, that . . . that I didn't like it."

I tried to keep my face blank, but I couldn't control my heart from nervously beating as fast as a Hummingbird's wings. "Oh. Uhh . . ."

She swallowed and looked at me again, and I willed myself to stay calm. Suddenly, I didn't care about the prank war at all. I didn't want the others to come. I wanted to stay like this, with her, and no one to bother us. I couldn't help but notice little things about her. How close we were sitting together, her stormy gray eyes, the lemon smell of her hair. I didn't think I would ever be in this kind of situation with her. I didn't think I would ever-

"They're here!" Travis's voice called, and he, Grover and Chris, accompanied by Katie, Clarisse and Juniper, all came busting in.

"Oh," Grover huffed, stopping and rocking back on his feet. "Sorry. We, uh . . . didn't mean to disturb you."

I took a shaky breath and leaned back, suddenly aware that Annabeth and I had been subconsciously leaning torwards each other, our faces only inches apart.

"You're okay," I said shakily, and tried to control my breathing. "So . . . you've got them?"

"Yep," Grover said, still a bit shocked at finding Annabeth and me like we were. He had Juniper tightly in his arms. Chris had Clarisse - who I was shocked to see was putting up a fight the least out of the three - and Travis now had Katie. I tried to shake off what had happened earlier and quickly grabbed Annabeth's wrists, my face hot.

I got up, and Katie, Juniper and Clarisse sat beside Annabeth on my bed.

"What are we going to do with them?" Grover asked smugly.

"I say we tie them to the bed and draw on them with that eye liner stuff," I suggested.

Chris burst out laughing. "Yeah! Good one, Percy. And afterwards make them run around camp."

"No, that's not good enough," Travis said. He stared at the girls, thinking hard.

"I got it!" Chris said. "We make them run around camp in only a bra and underwear with eye liner drawn on them."

"NO WAY!" the girls screamed in protest.

"Travis? What do you think?" I asked.

He stared at the girls for another few seconds. Then a huge smile spread across his face. "I think . . . you're a genius, Chris. I say that's exactly what they should do."

"No way," Clarisse said, shaking her head. "I won't do it. I'd stab myself with my spear first instead of doing that."

"Hmm. Well, too bad," Travis said. "You made us look like complete idiots yesterday! So this is payback, big time."

"Percy?" Annabeth pleaded, turning her gray eyes on me. I shifted uncomfortably.

"Uhh . . ."

"Percy, snap out of it, dude!" Grover said quickly, smacking my arm. "Don't let her get to you!"

"Percy?" Annabeth whispered softly. She leaned foward. Her eyes shined, and she was staring at me . . .

"PERCY!" Chris yelled. I jumped. "W-what?"

"That's not cool!" Travis told her. "No influencing!"

Annabeth just shrugged and leaned back again. I avoided her gaze and stared at the floor, relieved I didn't do anything stupid.

"Get to it, girls," Travis said. "We'll wait outside."

"We will?" Grover asked. Travis pulled him out of the cabin, and Chris and I followed.

While the others stood by the door, just in case the girls tried to run, I stood a short distance away. Inside, I could hear the girls talking.

"Are we really going to do it, Annabeth?" Katie whispered.

I heard Annabeth sigh. "Yes. And we're going to walk through camp with dignity, to show them we won't let them get to us."

"I say we just pumble them and get new dates to the ball," Clarisse said.

Annabeth laughed. My stomach did flips. "Nah. We'll just get them back after the ball."

"Why after the ball?" Juniper asked.

"Because, we still have the dancing lesson. Remember? Chiron said after dinner tonight people can stay in the Big Hall and practice dancing before the ball," Annabeth said. I gulped. Oh, gods.

"Ooo, we _can_ get them back, then!" Katie said excitely. "If there's one thing boys hate, it's having to dance in front of their friends. It embarrasses them, for some reason."

I blushed. It was only embarrassing because, well, some guys probably couldn't dance too well. Like me.

"Maybe. Alright, lets get this over with. The sooner the better," Annabeth said. I quickly moved back torwards the door so they wouldn't know I had eavesdropped on their conversation. Well, eavesdropped again, anyways.

Before the girls came out - they were probably drawing on themselves with the eye liner - I quickly told the others what I had heard.

"Dance classes_?" _Travis asked once I was finished. "I _do not_ think so. Katie's got another thing coming if she thinks I'm going to one of those things."

Me, Grover and Chris were all nodding in agreement when the door suddenly opened, and the girls came out.

I had to bite my lip so hard to keep from laughing I thought I drew blood. I looked at the others and saw they were biting their lips, too, chocking back their laughter. After the laughing had passed about the eye liner all over their bodies, the . . . um . . . what do you call it when your looking at your girlfriend - or date, whatever you want to call it - is standing in front of you in nothing but a bra and underwear?

"Oh, stop looking," Annabeth sighed. "Come on, girls. Remember, dignity."

"I don't think you're going to have much dignity looking like that!" Travis called to them as they walked across camp.

Everyone stared at them as they walked by. Some giggled, and some just stared. The girls held their heads high, though, and ignored it. If this wasn't my first time here and I if didn't know them, I would swear they were Aphrodite girls. Erm . . . of course Annabeth would kill me if I said that, though.

"Ah, the beauty of payback," Travis sighed, crossing his arms and leaning against the side of my cabin.

"Well, we'd better enjoy this moment while it lasts, because they are so going to kill us," Grover said.

Chris shrugged. "Maybe, but I'm not going to let them live this moment down, ever."

Just then Chiron came out of the Big House. And that's when I knew we were dead meat. The girls saw him, grinned, and ran back over to us. They each grabbed their date for the ball - gods, I wanted to dissapear by then - and waved at Chiron, all of them holding on to us and grinning.

Chiron shook his head and gave us a '_we'll talk later about your punishment' _look.

The boys groaned.

"Not cool. You made our prank backfire," Travis pouted.

"Just wait, it gets better," Katie whispered, and they started walking again.

Suddenly Annabeth shouted, "I'm going with Perseus Jackson to the ball!" as she walked.

"What!" I yelled. What the heck were they doing?

"I'm going to the ball with Chris Rodriguez!" Clarisse shouted.

Chris frowned.

"I'm going to the ball with Grover Underwood!" Juniper shouted.

Grover yelped.

"AND . . . I'm going with Travis Stoll!" Katie shouted gleefully.

"Aww man. This totally backfired!" Travis said.

"Gee, you think?" I said. But the girls weren't finished yet.

"And yes, they are going to the ball with a couple of whackos!" Annabeth said cheerfully. "Us!"

Suddenly we were the ones getting the stares. People snickered and whispered behind their hands at us.

"I hate your ideas," I muttered to Travis.

"Hey, this was all Chris's idea!" Travis said.

"Does it matter who's stupid idea it was?" Grover said, red faced. "They outsmarted us in our own prank."

"We're not giving up," Travis said firmly.

"No way! Are you crazy?" I said. "I quit, man. They obviously will twist anything we do."

"Dude, you're going to quit just because one prank went wrong?" Travis said. "That's weak. We'll get them back, as soon as the ball's over."

I hesitated, but finally nodded my head.

As we watched the girls walking, horror-struck, I remembered what I was thinking earlier when Annabeth and I had been about to kiss. I suddenly know what the end of the sentence was going to be, and I couldn't believe it. Even if it was true. Even after this torture.

I didn't think I would ever fall in love with my best friend.

But I did.

I was in love with Wise Girl.


	4. Chapter 4: I take dance lessons

***Hey people! Okay, here's chapter 4. And I know the first three chapters have been seriously long, but I'll **_**try**_** (no promises, though) to not go past 2,550 words this time. :) And like I said, I have no idea when this would take place in the books, so just go with it. & Please comment! No flames please, cause I know this story isn't as good as Goodbye. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Rick's. The only thing I own is Rose, who I made up from the top of my head.***

*Chapter 4 - I take dance lessons*

**(Days until Olympian Ball: 2)**

I had to admit . . . that I will never go to another ball after this one again. Annabeth, after she and the girls got done humiliating me and the other guys, kept me in the Big Hall after dinner for dance lessons.

"_Why_ are we doing this? I know how to dance already," I said.

Annabeth squeezed my arm. "Because, Seaweed Brain. This will help us be better dancers."

"Us?" I asked. "You dance way better then I do."

She blushed at my compliment. "Yeah, well, a little practice wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Alright, campers!" Chiron called. I looked around. It looked as though half the camp were here. Ways away, I saw Grover and Juniper. Grover caught my eye and he mouthed, _help! _

I shrugged my shoulders. I looked around for Chris and Travis, but I didn't see them in the crowd. I did see, however, Nico standing a few feet away, his shoulders tense and his face white. He didn't want to be here either.

It serves him right for deserting me back at the Aphrodite cabin, I thought smugly. Then I saw the girl that was on his arm, and my jaw dropped.

It was Katie.

Annabeth saw who I was looking at, and she gasped. "Why is Katie here with _Nico?"_

I don't know," I said. My guess, though, was that Travis decided not to turn up.

Just then a girl with dark brown hair and eyes walked torwards me. She couldn't have been that much older then me.

"Hi," she said once she reached me. "I'm Rose."

"Hi, Rose," Annabeth and I both said.

Rose looked at Annabeth. "Hey, aren't you that crazy chick that had walked around camp earlier with eye liner drawn all over her?"

Annabeth grinned. "Yep, that was me."

"Oh," Rose said, looking back and forth between me and Annabeth. "So . . . you guys are going to the ball together then, huh?"

Annabeth looped her arm through mine and beamed. "Yes, we are. Sorry if you were about to come over and ask him."

Rose sighed. "It's cool. I figured I'd try anyways."

Annabeth grinned again. She and Rose seemed to get along really well, and I couldn't blame her. Rose was actually really cool to have around.

"Hey, you'll be asked," Annabeth said confidently. "I bet tons of guys here are begging for you to go with them."

Rose smiled. "Thanks. Maybe. I am only thirteen, though. See you guys later!"

"See ya," we called as Rose sped off.

"I like her. She'd seem like a fun friend to hang out with," Annabeth said as we faced Chiron again.

"All right, campers! Now I need the boys to your face your partners," Chiron said. All of the boys turned towards their partner.

"How are we supposed to dance if the tables are in the way?" Annabeth whispered to me.

No sooner had she said that the tables flew across the room and landed in a neat stack by the wall.

"Like that, I guess," I mumbled.

"Take your partner's hand, and put the other on her waist. Now, start dancing! I'll be walking around to check on your progress," Chiron said. I hoped with all my heart he wouldn't play any of his records, but when the music played, it was a normal dancing song, not anything from the 70's.

Annabeth and I danced slowly, twirling around in a circle. Unfortunately, Chiron noticed and came over.

"You need to step up a little! Dance faster. And move closer. You're not going to dance so far apart like that." He put us so close together our torsos touched.

Chiron nodded and went to help another couple who were kicking each other in the shins.

Grover, who was watching, smirked at me. I shot him a look, and tried to speed up. I noticed that Chiron was right. Close together, we danced better.

We twirled around the room. Some people had stopped to actually watch us. I was glad I didn't kick Annabeth or have sweaty palms. Annabeth leaped into my arms, and I twirled her around. People applauded.

Blushing, I put her down and saw that everyone had made a circle around us.

"Excellent, you two!" Chiron said. "Back to it, campers!"

It was a few minutes after an hour when it was finally over. "Well done!" Chiron said. "Alright everyone, that's enough for tonight. It will continue, same time tomorrow. Now, off to bed!"

Exausted, we headed off for bed. As we left the Big Hall, I saw Travis nearby, looking stone-faced.

"Katie, can we have a minute?" he asked once Katie emerged. Her arm was looped through Nico's, and she was laughing about something. She stared at Travis for a moment, then sighed.

"Fine. I'll see you later, Nico."

"Okay," Nico said, and left for his cabin. He looked relieved.

Once he was gone, Katie rounded on Travis. "Where were you tonight, Travis? I asked you to come to the dancing lesson with me, but you just bailed! You left right after dinner!"

Travis raised his hands. "Katie, look. I-" He stopped short when he saw me and Annabeth standing there. "Can we talk in private?" he asked Katie.

She fumed for a moment, then said, "fine. But you'd better have a good excuse, or you're going to have to find another date to the ball."

Travis nodded grimly and led her away. I turned to Annabeth. "So, umm . . ."

"Good dancing tonight, Seaweed Brain," she said.

I smiled. "Thanks. You were good too."

We stood there for a few moments in awkward silence.

"Well, I'd better be heading off to bed, then," she finally said.

"Yeah. Uh, goodnight then, Wise Girl."

"Goodnight," she said, then suprised me by kissing me on the cheek before leaving for her cabin.

"Did she just kiss you?" Grover asked quickly, rushing up to me and dragging Juniper by the hand.

I rolled my eyes. "No, dude. Your little bet is still on. She kissed my cheek."

"Aww, man," Grover muttered. "Hey, do me a favor, would you? Kiss her at the ball."

"Grover!" Juniper scolded. "He will kiss her when he's ready."

"And if I don't kiss her?" I said.

Both Grover and Juniper glared at me. "You'd better kiss her!" Juniper said sternly. "She's been-" She stopped short and bit her lip.

"She's been what?" I asked curiously.

Juniper shook her head. "Nothing. Anyways, goodnight!" she said quickly. She kissed Grover and sped off.

I turned to Grover. "What was that about?"

Grover shrugged. "I have no idea. Girls always keep each other's secrets. It's like, some kind of rule they have. 'Keep my secrets or I'll tell yours to everyone.'"

"Wow," I said.

Grover nodded in agreement and we left for our beds. I couldn't sleep for a long time that night. For some reason, after Grover had asked if I'd kissed Annabeth, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that I _wanted_ to kiss her.

***I know this one's short, but I didn't want to make it over 3,000 words like the last chapter. Sorry about that, by the way. I'll try to keep the chapters even, not too short and not too long. Well, except for chapter 6. It's the chapter with the Ball, so it's going to be kind of long. Anyways, ttfn!***


	5. Chapter 5: We have a party

***Chapter 5. :) Sorry it took so long. I've had a very busy week. **

**Note: This chapter will be very long, but kind of sweet. ;)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Rose.***

*Chapter 5 - We have a party*

**(Days until the Olympian Ball: 1)**

Sometimes, being a demigod is totally awesome.

Tonight, the whole camp is having a huge party at the beach before the Ball tomorrow. Why, I have no idea. But they do it every year. There will be torches everywhere so it wouldn't be completely dark, and the weather will stay warm so people could swim. Also, just for tonight, there will be sodas and all kinds of unhealthy snacks. Of course, Travis and Connor were going to sneak a few extra things into the party, but Chiron, knowing the Stolls, searched them until he'd confiscated everything from their pockets. Groaning, Connor and Travis left for their cabin, probably to sneak in more stuff before the party.

It was already six o' clock. I thought the clock couldn't move any slower. Everyone eagerly waited for 7 o' clock to come. This has probably been the slowest day in history.

To pass the time, Annabeth and I went to the beach to watch the Nymphs and satyrs putting up the torches and decorations. One satyr saw us and shooed us away, so we went to my cabin instead.

"Can the time go by any _slower_?" Annabeth mumbled, flopping down on my bed. I couldn't help but agree with her. I was anxiously waiting for the party to start, too. Just sitting here and waiting for the time to go by was driving me nuts. Or maybe it was just my ADHD.

I suddenly realized that Annabeth and I were in my cabin. And we were alone.

Awkwardly, I leaned against the wall near the door and tried not to blush.

Annabeth looked at me. "Why are you way over there, Seaweed Brain?"

I shrugged, my heart pounding. "I'm just too overwhelmed to sit, I guess."

Annabeth laughed. "Or it's your ADHD. Come over here. I feel like you're trying to keep away from me."

"I'm not," I said. I moved closer and leaned on the wall beside my bed instead.

Annabeth sighed and rolled her eyes. "Are you sure?" she mumbled.

Slightly confused, I tried to change the subject. "So why does Chiron always throw a party the day before the ball, anyways?"

Annabeth shrugged. "To get us excited for it, I guess. Not too many people here like going to the ball, so I guess Chiron always throws a party so we'll be more enthusiastic about it."

"Or people will just be enthusiastic over the party, and not the ball," I said.

Annabeth laughed. "Well, I don't know, but the ball last year wasn't really all that bad."

"Well, maybe I won't have to dance. _Then _It'll be fun."

Annabeth grinned and threw a pillow at me. I caught it and threw it back at her.

"Do you seriously want to start a pillow fight, Wise Girl?" I joked.

Annabeth held a pillow up. "Well, it would pass the time until the party starts."

I stared at her. "Umm, I was joking."

She chucked the pillow at me so fast I didn't have time to dodge it, and it smacked me in the side of the head.

I grabbed the pillow. "You asked for it, Wise Girl." I threw the pillow at her.

She laughed and neatly dodged it, throwing another pillow at me. Before we knew it, we were running around my cabin smacking each other with pillows.

It seemed kind of girly, yes, or something girls would do at a sleepover, but I was having fun. I was spending time with Annabeth, and for once, we weren't arguing.

I ran out of pillows to throw at her, so I did the natural thing. I grabbed her around the waist and stopped her from throwing another pillow at me.

"Hey!" she laughed.

She turned around in my arms, and suddenly our faces were only inches away.

I grinned to hide my sudden nervousness. "I win."

"You did not!" she hit me on the back with the pillow. "I just did."

"Did not."

"Did too," she said, smiling.

"We're seriously arguing over who won a _pillow fight?" _I laughed.

"We're always arguing," she pointed out smugly.

"Yeah, but for once, we aren't getting in each other's faces and yelling," I said.

Annabeth smiled again, but this time it was slightly sadder. "Yeah, we always do that, don't we?" she asked softly.

"Maybe. But that's just how we are."

Annabeth bit her lip. "Percy, do you think that we-" She stopped.

"What?" I urged.

"Do . . . do you think that two people that argue all the time like each other? I mean, as more then a friend."

"Oh." I blushed. Where did that come from? What is she trying to say? "Well, it's possible, I guess."

She looked up at me, her gray eyes shining. I was perfectly aware of us leaning our faces towards each other this time. I parted my lips slightly.

This was it. I was finally going to kiss Annabeth.

Our lips were an inch away. I swallowed nervously. My heart was thumping fast. I closed my eyes. I felt her cool breath, which smelled like peppermint.

I felt her lips barely brush mine. Her lips parted. And then she suddenly jumped back and screamed.

I jumped back too. For a moment I thought she'd screamed because she'd been suprised that I was about to kiss her. Or worse, she screamed because she didn't want to kiss me, but found herself about to anyway.

But no, that wasn't it.

I looked to where she was pointing a shaky finger, and I nearly sighed in relief.

There was a Daddy Long Legs spider slowly crawling toward us. It looked like one of it's legs was hurt.

"S-Spider!" she screamed, and literally jumped on me, wrapping her legs tightly around my waist and burying her face in my shoulder. "Get it out!"

"Okay, okay! Calm down," I said. "It won't bite you. Its mouth is too small."

"I don't care, get it away from me!" she moaned.

Sighing, I shifted Annabeth around to were she was straddling my hip like a toddler and held her in one arm while I picked up the spider with my free hand."

Annabeth cringed away from it as I set it on the dirt outside. Once it was gone I carried Annabeth back inside and set her on my bed.

"The spider's gone. Are you okay?"

She took a few shaky breaths. "Yeah, yeah I'm alright. Thanks."

"No problem."

"I-I know they don't bite, but still . . ." she shuddered.

"Yeah, I know. Athena's kids are afraid of spiders."

She nodded. She looked down at her watch. "_Di Immortales_! Percy, it's 6:58!"

"Time really does fly by fast when you have pillow fights," I laughed. I held out my hand, and she took it and stood up.

"Isn't this party _awesome?" _Grover yelled to us over the loud music. Everyone was either talking, swimming, or dancing to the music. Annabeth, Grover, Juniper, Chris, Clarisse, Travis, Katie and I were sitting in the sand in a circle.

And it was extremely awkward.

Everyone here was a couple except me and Annabeth, and we were the only ones that weren't either holding hands or practically sitting on each other's lap. We were, though, sitting so close together that our hips and sides pressed together.

"We should play truth or dare," Travis said.

"NO!" we yelled at him. The last time we played truth or dare with Travis, alot of us ended up in the infirmary.

Travis raised his hands and sighed. "Fine, fine."

"Um, so, Katie, what had happened yesterday night? It seemed like you'd gotten into a fight with Travis," Annabeth said.

"And not to mention you were at the dance lesson with _Nico, _of all people," Grover added.

Katie looked over her shoulder at Travis, who was holding her in his arms while she sat between his legs.

Travis sighed. "Okay, I guess you guys should know. I didn't turn up at the dance lesson because Connor needed me in the infirmary."

"What? What happened to him?" Juniper gasped.

"Well, usually Connor and I don't prank people seperately, because sometimes it can get too carried away. Connor did anyway, after I _told _him it was too dangerous, and he ended up in the infirmary with a broken leg and arm."

"Is he okay?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, he's fine. Some Nectar and Ambrosia fixed him right up. He's over there, flirting with Lacy from the Aphrodite cabin."

They all looked to see Connor grinning with his arm around Lacy. She looked very happy.

Annabeth smirked. "Well, everyone knows they've liked each other forever now. They should just kiss already."

"It's getting annoying, actually," I added. "I can't stand to see those two flirting anymore."

Everyone at the circle shot us disbelieving looks.

"What?" Annabeth and I asked.

Clarisse sighed and shook her head, looking up at the sky. "Nothing."

Juniper and Katie giggled.

"Hey, this is a good song!" Chris said. He pulled Clarisse up and took her to dance.

Grover and Travis did the same, leaving me and Annabeth alone.

I bit my lip. "So, what do you want to do, Wise Girl?"

"Want to go get some punch?" she suggested.

I stood up, and she grabbed my hand to help her up, too. Once she was standing, however, she didn't let go of my hand. Hand in hand, we wove our way through the crowd until we found the table that was full of food and a huge bowl of punch.

"Great party, huh?" a voice suddenly asked. We turned to see Nico who, shockingly, was arm in arm with Rose. But he didn't look as gloomy as he usually did. He actually looked cheerful, like the little kid I'd first met at Westover.

"Hey, guys." Nico grinned. "Have you met Rose?"

"Yeah, we've met," Annabeth said, smirking.

"Hey guess what?" Rose said excitedly. "Nico's going with me to the ball!"

"What?" Annabeth said. "Thats great!"

Rose grinned, and she and Nico left to dance. After they were gone Annabeth turned to me.

"Oh my gods! Nico and Rose? Why didn't they get together sooner? They are so cute together."

"You sound like an Aphrodite child," I pointed out.

She gasped in mock outrage and punched my arm. "I am not! That is so not funny."

Rubbing my arm, I said, "Do you want to go swimming? Or are you going to punch me for saying that, too?"

That, of course, got me another punch. "Yes, Seaweed Brain. Lets go swimming."

We took our clothes off. I tried not to stare at Annabeth, but of course I slipped and glanced at her a few times anyway. Her bikini was gray, and she looked . . . well, she looked . . .

Annabeth caught my eye, and I tried to keep my eyes on the beach water. "Stop staring, Seaweed Brain."

"I wasn't!" I kept my eyes on the water.

"Uh huh. Then why won't you look at me?"

"Can we go in now?" I asked, hoping to change the subject. I didn't mean to sound rude, but the truth was, I actually did really want to get in the water. It calms me, and I feel better when I'm in the ocean.

She grinned. "Sure. Race you down there?"

"Your on." I grinned.

She took off towards the water, and I ran after her. I felt eyes on us, but I didn't care.

She reached the water before I did, and she dived underwater. Grinning, I followed her. I found her easily. She was swimming away from me. She finally surfaced, but I stayed under, swimming close by her feet like a shark. I knew she was looking for me. And I knew she knew I was somewhere underwater. I grabbed both her ankles and pulled her under, instantly forming an air bubble around her so she could breathe.

She looked panicked for a moment, but when she saw it was just me she stuck her tongue out at me. I stuck my tongue out back. She started to resurface, but I held her back and shook my head. I pointed out, farther and deeper into the ocean. She looked at me questioningly, but I tugged her with me, going farther out into the ocean.

_What about sharks? _she mouthed. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Sharks wouldn't be a problem. As long as I was here they wouldn't hurt us.

We went so far the floor of the ocean was over a 1,000 feet deep, and I finally stopped. There were sharks everywhere, either just passing along or chasing fish to eat. Some swam over to us. Annabeth gasped and held on tightly to me. I smiled at shook my head. I held my hand out, and a shark instantly came to me and rubbed against my hand affectionately. Annabeth looked terrified, but I took her hand and held it out to the shark. The shark loved her. He rubbed against her hand and brushed against her again and again, wanting her to pet him.

She finally did, and after a few moments I saw her relax. Other sharks came over when they saw us, and pretty soon we were petting every shark that passed us.

Annabeth looked at me, a smile on her face. I knew that she would like it. If I'd known the sharks would be a danger to her, I wouldn't have brought her here. One of the many perks to being Poseidon's son. That, and being able to breathe underwater.

_Back to the party? _I mouthed. She nodded. She rubbed a shark's fin one last time before we turned away back towards the camp. I saw a shark nudge Annabeth's hand. I realized it was the shark that Annabeth had pet first. He nudged her hand again. She looked at me, and I shrugged. Then she did something that completely shocked me. She pulled me with her as she sat on the shark and held on to his fin.

I gave her an _Are you crazy? _look, but she shrugged. I figured the shark would try to eat her, but he didn't seem mad at all. Now the shark wanted to give rides? I hopped on behind Annabeth, and the shark zipped us towards camp.

. . . . .

The shark rose up out of the water until both he and us were out of the water, and as we rode closer I saw everyone gasp and stare at us. Annabeth saw Thalia, Clarisse, Chris, Grover, Juniper, Travis and Katie staring at us by the food table, and we waved. Nothing like riding a shark on a typical day at Camp Half-Blood.

The shark went as close to the shore as he could without his belly rubbing against the sand. We hopped off, and Annabeth rubbed his nose one last time before he swam around and shot back to the other sharks.

Everyone who had watched was staring at us in awed silence as we made our way back to the food table, where our friends were waiting for us.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Travis said as we approached. He high fived me.

"You guys got to ride a shark?" Grover asked. "I would be terrified. Carnivores, they are . . ."

"I got to pet other sharks, too!" Annabeth said, and told them the story.

When she was finished, Travis and Connor groaned. "Not fair! We want to go, Percy!"

I grinned. "Sorry, guys. Maybe later."

"Wow! I can't believe you actually rode a shark!" Katie said.

"It was awesome but terrifying at the same time," Annabeth laughed. "Anyways, so what have you guys been doing while we were gone?"

"Looking for you two, actually," Clarisse said. "But when you came riding up on a shark, well, even I have to admit that was cool."

I smirked, and Clarisse scowled. "Don't think I actually _like _you or your powers now, punk. I still owe you payback for drowsing me in toilet water."

"Clarisse! That was over four years ago!" Annabeth said.

Clarisse shrugged. "I never forget. I can hold a grudge. And I'll definitely get you back, Prissy."

"I'll be looking forward to it," I said. Clarisse grunted.

Annabeth hugged Thalia. "What are you doing here?"

"The Hunters came for the ball," Thalia said. Everyone stared at her. "I mean, just because we don't like men doesn't mean we don't like to party," she added.

"I wouldn't mind not going," I said hopefully, but Annabeth shook her head and looped her arm through mine.

"No way, Seaweed Brain. You aren't getting out of it that easily."

Thalia looked back and forth between us. "So, Seaweed Brain-"

"Don't call me that!" I said quickly. I didn't like anyone but Annabeth calling me that.

"Yeah. Only Annabeth gets to call him that. They _are_ d-" Katie said, but I cut her off, too.

"No we're not!"

"Are too," Juniper, Katie and Clarisse mumbled.

"Anyways," Thalia laughed, "who are you guys going to the ball with?"

Katie bit her lip to keep from smiling. "Oh, you don't know?"

"Ooo, let me tell her!" Juniper said. "They're going . . . with each other!"

"No way!" Thalia turned to us. "So, you guys are finally going out then?"

"No!" Annabeth and I both said, blushing.

"Who asked who?" Thalia asked.

Everyone turned to us. They were eager to hear the answer, too.

I swallowed. "I guess I did," I said.

"Awww," Katie and Juniper both said.

"But just as friends," Annabeth said quickly.

"Yeah, not as a couple or anything," I added. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"What?" I asked. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," Juniper said, "that it's time to dance!"

. . . . . .

We danced, laughed and talked for hours. It seemed like time had flew by when the conch finally sounded, signaling that it was time for bed. Everyone groaned in protest.

"Aww, come on, Chiron," Will Solace said. "One more hour."

"No, no," Chiron said firmly. "It's already twelve o' clock."

"Twelve? But I thought you'd said the party ended at eleven," Annabeth said.

Chiron winked at her. "I gave you an extra hour, seeing as you were having so much fun. I'm glad you enjoyed it, but we have to get plenty of rest for the ball on Olympus tomorrow!"

Everyone groaned again and headed for their cabins.

"This has probably been the funnest party yet," Annabeth said as I walked her to her cabin.

"Definitely," I agreed. "It almost makes me want next year's ball to come, so we can have another party."

She laughed. "Well, next year will be here before we know it. Goodnight, Seaweed Brain." She kissed my cheek. My face burned as I headed for my cabin. I crawled into bed and replayed the night's events over and over again in my head.

***Hello, people. So what did you think of this chapter? You like, love, hate? Comment please and tell me what you think! Next up: chapter 6. The Olympian Ball. ;) And dang you guys are going to love it. I hope. Will they kiss during a slow dance? After midnight, when the ball is over? You'll find out. And find out if Grover, Travis or Chris wins the bet. And Percy will find out him and Annabeth have some unexpected people betting against them. XD***


	6. Chapter 6: The Olympian Ball

***Here is chapter 6: The Olympian Ball. I think this has been what everyone's been waiting for, so I won't bore you guys with my rambling. And I finally figured out what to do with this story! Nothing! I mean, I just wanted to write this for fun, not based off any book of the series. So it's a free story. :) I hope that will clear off any confusion for those who were wondering when this would take place.**

**Note: This chapter will be very long! And one more thing, before you guys - and girls - read this there is alot more that was added on chapter 5. **

**~There will be one more chapter after this.~**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Rose***

*Chapter 6: The Olympian Ball*

Tonight was the big night. The night of the Olympian Ball. I had to admit that I was a little nervous. All of the gods will be there, and I really didn't know what to expect when Annabeth and I would walk through those doors. Will Poseidon and Athena be upset? Angry? Or will they even care?

Annabeth and I were sitting with Thalia, Grover and Juniper at the beach, talking about the events that would be happening tonight.

"There's going to be fireworks," Grover said. "Really big, really colorful ones."

"And the Midnight Ball kiss," Juniper added.

"The what?" I asked.

"The Midnight Ball kiss," Annabeth said. "It's when, you know, all the couples kiss their dates at twelve o' clock. It's Aphrodite's idea of 'romantic.'" She blushed. I blushed too and looked away.

"But you don't _have _to do it," Thalia added. "It's optional. I mean, now it is, anyway. Before it wasn't, but Aphrodite changed it when . . ." Her face flushed.

"When, er, two guys that didn't have dates wound up going with each other, as friends. It was really awkward," Katie finished.

I tried not to laugh. "Who?"

Grover bit his lip. "Erm . . . you know. Just two guys." He turned away.

Annabeth sighed. She leaned in close and whispered in my ear, "It was Grover and Connor. But don't say anything!"

"Oh." I swallowed. "No, thats . . . thats, um, alright." Gods I hoped my face wasn't giving anything away right now.

Grover sighed. "Yeah, I know. It was awful."

I patted his shoulder comfortingly. "It's cool, G-man. I understand. And besides, you're taking Juniper."

Grover sniffed and smiled at Juniper, who looped her arm through his and smiled back.

"So," Thalia said to me and Annabeth. "Are two going to kiss at midnight or during a slow dance?"

"Thalia!" Annabeth said.

She shrugged. "I was just wondering. I figured you'd have to really be into him to turn down Artemis's offer to be a Hunter."

"And not to mention Percy turned down immortality for her, too" Katie added. Juniper giggled and hid her smile.

I blushed. "I don't-I mean, I didn't-"

"Oh, you so did. Don't try to fool us with that, 'I just want to have a normal life' crap. You turned it down just for Annabeth," Thalia said, grinning.

"You're so annoying," I mumbled.

"And you're so in love, Kelp Breath!" Thalia shot back.

"Take it back!" My hands balled into fists.

"Make me! You know it's true!"

I felt electricity buzzing in the air, but I didn't care. I wondered if my invincibility extended to getting struck with lightning.

I raised my hand, and the ocean started to rise, too.

"Oh my gods, will you two cut it out?" Annabeth said. I dropped the water, and the electric feeling left the air.

"He started it," Thalia murmured at the same time I murmured, "She started it."

"Hey, it's four o' clock. We need to get ready," Juniper said, standing up.

"Oh yeah." Annabeth stood up.

"It seriously takes you over three hours to get ready? The ball starts at seven!" Grover said.

"Were girls. Of course it takes longer. We want to look our best," Annabeth said, her and Juniper leaving.

I looked at Thalia. "Are you going to get ready?"

"No. The only thing I need to do is brush my hair and put on more eye liner," she said. "I don't want to impress anyone."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After a quarter past seven, all the boys were in the vans. The boys and girls would be arriving at the ball seperately, so the boys rode in the vans to the Empire State Building first. After we got out, the Harpies sped away to pick up the girls.

We walked up to the guard at the front desk, who was reading a book with his feet propped up.

"What can I do for you, kids? It's past your bedtime, isn't it?"

I sighed. "Are you serious? After all the times you've seen me, you're going to ask me that? We want to go to Olympus."

He studied me. "Percy Jackson?" he guessed.

"Yep."

He nodded. "I figured. Go on up. Zeus is expecting you."

The elevator wasn't big enough for all of us, so we went up in groups. When the doors finally opened, I couldn't help but stare.

The place had been entirely decorated. The trees were lined with dozens of lights, illuminating the streets and making everything glow. We walked down the street, passing by satyrs and nymphs as we walked. All of them were dressed up and were either chatting with each other or dancing. It was definitely a lot more crowded then usual. We had to wove our way through the crowd to get to the doors to Olympus, and when we went inside, I actually gasped.

The place looked great; the walls were decorated with streamers, twinkling lights, and grafitti. There was a long table by the gods' thrones that was filled with food and a numerous amount of goblets like the ones at camp, where all you had to do was say what drink you wanted and it would appear in the cup.

"This is awesome," Grover said in awe.

"Is it me, or does the place look bigger?"Chris asked. He was right. It _did _look bigger. Or maybe that was just because the usually ten feet tall gods weren't here.

"Where is everyone?" I asked. "I thought the gods-"

"We are right here, my son," came a voice, and I turned to see the Poseidon and the other gods entering the room. Well, the male gods, anyway.

After we bowed I asked, "Dad, why are the girls coming after us?"

"It is tradition. The men arrive before the women." He nudged me and winked. "And I'm willing to bet your date is a girl that I will approve of?"

"Uh . . ." I bit my lip. Oh, Hades. I was so dead. "Um, dad, about my date . . . It's-"

"Ah, the girls are here," he suddenly said. "And the goddesses. Please excuse me, Percy."

"Uh, yeah. Sure." I sighed in relief. As the gods went to meet the goddesses, The guys turned around to meet their dates, my eyes fell on Annabeth, and I literally thought my jaw dropped to the floor.

She was walking torward me in a strapless silver ball gown. She didn't have on any jewelry except some silver earrings to match her dress, and half her hair was pulled back, making her curly hair frame her face.

"Um . . . wow," I said once she reached me. It took me a few moments before I could speak right. "You look amazing."

She blushed. "Thank you. So do you."

I caught Chris, Grover and Travis's eye. They gave me the thumbs up sign. Travis mouthed, _I am _so _winning the bet!_

I rolled my eyes. Travis had only bet we would kiss _after_ the ball because of the Midnight Ball kiss, when the ball would officially be over. Travis had planned this out. He's hoping we wouldn't kiss until then.

Ways away I saw Chiron, and he was talking to a minor godling. He was in his wheelchair, probably so he could ride up here in the elevator.

"Heroes!" Zeus's loud voice suddenly boomed. "We would like to welcome you to the Olympian Ball!"

Everyone cheered.

"Have fun!" Zeus said. "But please, no spin the bottle again."

"But not _too _much fun," Athena added. Everyone groaned under their breaths but blushed at her words. Annabeth had told me that last year everyone was sneaking into the gods' temples to play spin the bottle and . . . well, make out, basically.

The music cranked up, and people immediatly went to the dance floor. I was about to ask Annabeth to dance when we suddenly noticed both Poseidon and Athena look right at us.

"Um, do you think they'd say anything to us in front of everyone and make a scene?" I whispered to Annabeth.

She shook her head. "I doubt it. They'll probably wait until the ball is over. They'll difinitely be keeping an eye on us, though."

"Well then, in that case, will you dance with me, Wise Girl?" I asked.

She smiled. "Of course, Seaweed Brain."

I took her hand and led her to the dance floor. I put my other hand on her waist, and we started to dance. Like at the Big House, people moved to give us room. We were dancing in a big circle, with others twirling all around us. I felt Poseidon's and Athena's gazes on us, but I tried not to catch either of their eye.

Of course, Annabeth saw them watching, too. Frowning slightly, she wrapped her arm tighter around me and shifted so close our stomachs touched. Our dancing sped up, and we were moving everywhere, so people had to suddenly twirl away to avoid us.

The song ended, and another slow song came on. We didn't stop dancing, though. We just danced right through it until that song ended too. Exhausted, we went to the food table and grabbed two goblets.

"Blue Cherry Coke," I told mine, and it appeared in the cup.

Annabeth grinned and said the same thing to hers. She sipped it. "Not bad," she said. She looked at the floor for a moment, then glanced at me.

I watched the other dancers and sipped my coke. "What?" I finally asked, not being able to help glancing back at her. Gods, she was beautiful.

"Nothing," she said. "I just notice that you don't look all that miserable to be here like you've been proclaiming."

"I-it's not _that _bad, I admit . . ." My face felt hot.

"Uh huh," she laughed. "Admit it, your enjoying yourself."

I groaned. "Fine. I'm enjoying myself. Happy?"

She grinned and leaned her shoulder against mine. "Yep. I'm glad your having fun, Seaweed Brain."

"Are you? No second thoughts about wanting to come here with Will?" I joked.

She bumped me in the shoulder and laughed. "Nope. None at all. What about you? Do you regret not coming here with Drew?"

"Regret it?" I asked. "No. Wanting to come with her? No. _Then _I would have been miserable and hated coming."

She stared into her goblet and traced her finger around the rim. "So you don't feel miserable since you came with me?"

I swallowed and looked down at my own goblet. I realized that she was still waiting for an answer, so I blurted, "yes. I mean, no I don't regret coming with you, not yes I regret it."

Gods, I must have sounded so dumb.

She smiled into her goblet, but quickly drank some coke to hide it. "So you're comfortable being here with me, and not anyone else?" she finally asked.

I shifted my weight nervously. "Where's all this coming from?" I asked, hoping she wouldn't notice I didn't answer her question.

She shrugged. "I was just curious."

I bit my lip. Why she was asking?

She took a deep breath. She looked right into my eyes. I wanted to look away, afraid of what she might say, but I couldn't. It's as if everyone else had disappeared, and it was only the two of us. It's as if time itself had stopped just for this moment.

She swallowed and leaned closer to me. "Percy, I . . . I l-"

She didn't finish what she was about to say, because suddenly fireworks shot into the air. There were different shapes of all kinds of different colors. It was as if time had suddenly started again. All around us people danced and watched the fireworks.

"What were you about to say?" I asked, silently begging for her to finish her thought.

But she shook her head. "Nothing. Do you want to get closer?"

"Okay," I mumbled. She took my hand and led me through the crowd. When I glanced at a figure in a tight pink dress - Aphrodite - I noticed she did not look happy. She kept shooting death looks at Athena and Poseidon, as though they did something wrong.

I shook it off, though. It was probably nothing.

The fireworks were bright and colorful. One shot into the shape of a heart, while another shot into the shape of a centaur. I was slightly embarrassed when Annabeth's hand slipped into mine. I was glad the room was currently dark and the only other lights were from outside. It hid my blush. Unfortunately, it hid hers too.

The fireworks ended with a big fanale: Two centaurs - a male and a female - were galloping through a heart hand in hand.

The lights suddenly came back on. The music started again.

"That seemed more like Valentine's Day fireworks," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "The Fourth of July fireworks at camp is the biggest dating event of the summer. Where do you think we got it from?" She gestured torward the thrones. "Here on Olympus, _this _is the biggest dating event of the summer."

Yeah, I could understand that. "So, there are two dating events of the summer?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"And let me guess. Aphrodite's going to be lurking somewhere, waiting for a couple to torture."

"Yeah, that's about right."

I couldn't help but glance around. Aphrodite shooting Poseidon and Athena dirty looks suddenly came back into my head, and I realized that tonight, Annabeth and I were Aphrodite's targets, and she wouldn't stop until we kissed. Or were a couple. Or both.

She laughed and squeezed my hand. "It's alright. Do you want to dance?"

"Sure."

She led me back to the dance floor. We danced for another song or two. Then, as we were drifting into a third song, Annabeth suddenly pulled me off to the side.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, I just want to take a short break," she said.

I saw a couple coming over, and I grinned.

"Hey, Nico. Hey, Rose."

Annabeth looked over her shoulder and smiled.

Nico, in a jet black tuxedo with a matching blood red tie, was standing arm in arm with Rose, who was in a maroon colored gown with her hair curled and styled.

"The fireworks were really pretty," she said.

"Oh, definitely. Remember last year when . . . ." Annabeth rambled on to Rose about last year's ball. I turned to Nico.

"How are you holding up, man?"

"Good, I guess. It's not as bad as I thought it would be," he said.

"Or maybe it is as bad, but being with the right person makes it bearable," I said, glancing at Annabeth.

"And you and Rose are really hitting it off," I noticed.

He blushed. "Yeah, she's . . ." He glanced at the girls to make sure they weren't listening, then lowered his voice slightly. "I really like her. She's not all . . . girly like the other girls are."

"Are you calling Annabeth or Thalia girly?" I asked, smirking. "Because I don't think they'd like to hear that, especially Thalia."

His ghost white faced turned red. "No! I-you know what I mean."

"Yeah dude, I get it. You like her."

Nico took a deep breath. "Percy . . . she wants me to dance with her. What if I stumble or walk on her toes?"

"I highly doubt that," I said, glancing at Rose's four inch heels.

"Percy!"

I sighed. "Okay, okay. Look, dance with her once and see how it goes. If you dance terribly, then don't dance again. If you think you did alright, dance more until you get better at it."

He stared at me. "You seem to know alot."

"Try going to dance classes with her." I nodded torward Annabeth. "And you'll be dancing like a pro in no time. Believe me."

He laughed. "Nice. What she'd do, threaten you with her knife if you tried to leave?"

I grimaced. "Practically, yes."

"Well, you're invincible. She wouldn't be able to hurt you. Well, unless she knew were your Achilles Heel is."

I kept silent. Oh, she knew where it was. Heck, she was the reason I'd stayed alive in the first place.

"Anyway, Nico, what do you want to do?" Rose asked, turning torwards us.

Nico glanced at me before saying, "Let's dance."

He pulled her by the hand to the dance floor. Rose looked taken back, but pleased all the same.

I glanced at my watch: it was 11:30. Thirty minutes until the Midnight Ball kiss.

"It's eleven thirty already!" I said. "Where did the time go?"

Annabeth smiled. "Oh, so you don't want it to end now?"

I bit my lip. "I . . . maybe."

She laughed. "I thought you would like it, after a while."

"Well, I am here with you, aren't I?"

She blushed and looked down.

You _vlacas_, I thought, silently calling myself an idiot in Ancient Greek. She probably doesn't even think of you like that.

"I'm glad I came with you, too," she suddenly said.

I looked at her. "You are?"

She nodded. "Of course. This year's ball has been way better then the other ones I've gone to."

I stared straight ahead and tried to keep my expression neutral. "Because you're with me?"

She nodded. "Yes."

_Stay cool. That doesn't mean anything,_ I told myself.

Out loud I said, "Well, I'm glad. I've had fun with you, too."

When her attention was on her drink, I checked my watch again. Ten minutes until midnight.

"Annabeth!" a voice called. A few feet away, Clarisse, Juniper, Katie and Thalia were huddled together.

"Go on," I sighed. Annabeth kissed my cheek before walking over to the girls. Grover, Chris, Travis and Connor joined me.

"Hey, Connor. Where's your date?" I asked.

Connor nodded over to the food table, where Lacy was chatting with a friend. "She's waiting for the Midnight Ball kiss," he said.

"And speaking of kissing," Travis said, waggling his eyebrows at me. "Are you and Annabeth going to kiss?"

I punched his shoulder. "No way, man. We aren't going to-"

"You are," Grover said firmly. He put his hands on my shoulders. "If there's a perfect time to kiss her, it's at midnight. I can feel your emotions, remember? You want to. I know you do."

I blushed. I'd forgotten Grover could do that.

"And she wants to kiss you, too," Chris added.

"But what if she doesn't?" I argued. I glanced at Annabeth. "I don't know if I-"

"Perrrrcy!" Grover said, shaking my shoulders slightly. I looked at him again. "You can. It's so easy. When midnight comes, just-kiss-her!"

"It's so simple, dude," Connor added.

"Just relax. If you feel pressured, do it quick," Travis said.

"But not too quickly," Grover said.

"And don't pull her torward you. She might pull back," Chris added.

"Guys, will you stop giving me advice?" I said. "I know what to do."

"Oh my gods, it's 11:58!" Grover said. The guys pushed me towards the girls at the same time the girls pushed Annabeth torward me.

"Good luck, man!" Connor said.

We met in the middle. Annabeth bit her lip.

"Do you want to have one more dance? You know, before the ball is over?" I asked her.

She smiled. "I'd love that, Seaweed Brain."

I took her hand and led her back to the dance floor.

As we spun, I saw the guys holding their dates. Well, everyone except for Thalia.

The time was ticking. Again, time seemed to slow. I looked at Annabeth at the same time she looked at me.

"Time for the Midnight Ball kiss! Everyone grab your partners!" Aphrodite said cheerfully.

Thirty seconds left until midnight.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Poseidon and Athena glance at each other, then they started torward us.

No!

I had to be quick. My time was running out, and Poseidon and Athena were getting closer.

"Six seconds!" Aphrodite called.

They were coming closer.

It was now or never. I took Annabeth's arms.

"I love you," I blurted, and I kissed her.

The clock struck twelve.

***Ooo, I know you guys were expecting that. lol I wasn't really trying to go for the element of suprise there. :D Anyways, chapter 7 is coming as soon as this is posted.***


	7. Chapter 7: Confessions

*Chapter 7: Confessions*

I don't know how much time had passed after I kissed Annabeth. Everything was kind of a blur. I noticed that Athena and Poseidon had stopped and were staring us in disbelief. I let go of Annabeth and stepped back an inch or two.

Ways away, our groups of friends - all of them - were grinning like mad from ear to ear.

I bit my lip. I'd taken a huge gamble on our friendship. If she didn't like me back, what would it do to us?

Aphrodite saw the kiss too, of course. She was jumping up and down like a little girl and squealing.

Not everyone noticed, though. Those who didn't see our kiss - because they were too busy kissing their own date - were dancing again one last time before the ball officially ended.

Annabeth stared up at me, her face slightly red and her eyes wide.

"I just had to get that out," I breathed. "If you don't feel the same, I don't want to mess up our friendship. This doesn't change anything, does it?" I asked.

Her gray eyes met mine. "It changes everything, Seaweed Brain," she whispered, and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and kissed me.

I was so shocked - and so caught up in the moment - that I barely heard our friends' loud cheering through the pounding in my ears.

She pulled away but kept her face close to mine, both of us breathing heavy.

"Percy, what I was going to say earlier," Annabeth said, "but didn't get the chance to was . . . I love you."

"Really?" I asked, breathless.

"ANNABETH!" a voice yelled. Athena, her face flushed with anger, stormed over to us, Poseidon at her heels. He didn't look too happy, either.

We wrapped our arms tighter around each other and pressed tightly together to keep them from seperating us.

"Let go of him at once!" Athena hissed.

Annabeth stubbornly shook her head.

"Percy," Poseidon warned.

I stared him right in the eye and slowly shook my head.

"Why can't they be together?" Aphrodite said, standing beside us. "They _belong_ together."

"No, they don't," Athena and Poseidon said.

The room was silent. The music had been turned off, and everyone had stopped dancing. Everyone was staring at us.

"Let go, or I'll make you," Athena snapped.

Behind Athena and Poseidon, all of our friends - Nico, Rose and Rachel had joined them - were staring at us, their faces pale.

I caught Grover's eye. He shook his head sadly and said, "Percy, just let go."

It was so simple. We let go, then Athena and Poseidon force us to be friends. Everything goes back to the way it was. Problem solved.

Then I looked at Annabeth, at her gray eyes shining. She looked back at me, and I knew she was thinking the same thing. If we let go now, it wouldn't change anything. I would still love her, and we would still want to be more then what we were now.

"No," I said calmly.

Poseidon and Athena's faces turned red. "No?"

"You can't not let us be together," Annabeth said. "No matter what you force on us. I'll still love him. Nothing you do will change that."

Poseidon and Athena both fumed for a moment. Then, as they stared at us, their hands on their weapons relaxed and their shoulders unstiffened.

"And you are sure about this, my son?" Poseidon asked.

I squeezed Annabeth's waist lightly. "I'm sure."

"And you, daughter?" Athena said.

Annabeth nodded. "I'm sure."

Athena sighed. "Alright. I-I will allow it."

"As will I," Poseidon said.

I grinned and squeezed Annabeth. Everyone cheered.

"Yes! That means I win the bet!" Travis said cheerfully. "They did kiss after the ball, since it ended at twelve. So pay up, you guys!"

Grover and Chris groaned. They each pulled ten dollars out of their pockets and reluctantly handed it to Travis.

"What did they bet?" Annabeth demanded.

"When we would end up kissing," I sighed. "Travis bet after the ball, Grover bet before the ball, and Chris bet during the ball."

"Actually, some other people bet, too," Travis said. "So come on, you free loaders. Those who had bet against me better cough up. You know who you are!"

"More people bet, too?" I asked.

It was true. Campers came forward and handed Travis their bettings.

Travis turned to the girls. "Are you ladies forgetting something?"

Annabeth and I gaped as Juniper, Katie and Clarisse each handed Travis a ten. Thalia stood there with her arm crossed.

Travis raised an eyebrow.

Groaning, Thalia reached into her pocket and pulled out a ten.

"Thalia!" Annabeth said.

Thalia shot us an apoligetic look. "Sorry, guys."

"_All _of you bet against us?" I said.

"Sorry, man. I need to make a few bucks, and I figured, why not get more people in on the bet? They all thought you'd end up kissing during the ball, though," Travis said, counting his money. Then he looked at the gods. "And if I recall right, demigods weren't the only ones who had bet against me."

I felt my jaw drop as gods and goddesses came foward and handed him ten drachmas. Hera bet on us, and Zeus, Hephaestus, Hermes, Apollo, Ares . . .

Travis put all of his money into a bag, then turned torwards Poseidon and Athena. "_And _two certain parents need to pay up, too, for betting that they _wouldn't _kiss at all."

"Mom!" Annabeth said as Athena and Poseidon both dropped ten drachmas into the bag.

"You bet on us, too?" I asked. "That we wouldn't kiss at all?"

Athena sighed. "You know, for being the goddess of wisdom, betting that you wouldn't kiss wasn't all that smart."

"Well, no one _asked _you to be the wisdom goddess," Poseidon mumbled.

Athena glared at him. "You know, someone should really get that seaweed out of your brain. It's frying up the two brain cells you have left. Not that you really _use_ them, anyway."

"You should know," Poseidon said, "that you have a big head, like Einstein. It's no wonder everyone thinks your so smart."

Athena scoffed. "Einstein was my son, Kelp Face."

"Sorry, Owl Head," Poseidon shot back.

"Fish Breath."

"Wise Girl."

"Seaweed Brain."

They bothed huffed and stomped away to their temples.

Everyone stared after them. Then they busted out laughing.

"Wow, now doesn't _that _seem familiar!" Thalia laughed.

"I can see where Percy and Annabeth get it from." Nico grinned.

Annabeth and I blushed.

"Time to head back to camp, half-bloods," Zeus said. "So goodnight, and see you all at next year's ball."

. . . . . . . . .

The girls didn't have to ride back to camp seperately from the boys, so Annabeth and I rode back to camp together, holding hands on the seat.

"Off to bed, now!" Chiron said once everyone had returned. No one protested like they normally would have (we've been trying to convince Chiron to let us stay up until twelve instead of ten for ages now). Everyone was exhausted, so they gladly left for bed. I wanted to just go to bed in my tuxedo, I was so tired, but I walked with Annabeth to her cabin.

"Goodnight, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.

"Goodnight, Wise Girl," I said, then blushed. My gods, we did sound like our parents.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and I wrapped my arms around her waist. Our lips met, and my stomach was doing happy summersaults.

"Get a room, you two!" a voice suddenly said. We looked to see Clarisse passing us with a smirk on her face.

I blushed, but Annabeth laughed.

"Well, um, goodnight," I said.

She kissed me one more time, then went inside her cabin. Once I was in my own cabin, I took off my tuxedo and crawled into bed. There was just one thing I was thinking as unconciousness took me: Annabeth and I were now actually a couple.


	8. Chapter 8: Party in the Poseidon cabin

***Hello. :) Sooo, sorry if my updates have been a little less then usual. I've just been obsessing about getting my glasses monday, cause when I get glasses I can get my learner's permit. And I can't take my learner's without glasses cause I'm near sighted, and would totally fail the eye exam. :)**

**Anywhoo, heres the final chapter of the story. Hope you enjoy. And remember, it's not going to be as long as the last one. Since it's the end, please please please comment! It means alot. What I love most is the comments. Thank you. :)***

*Chapter 8: party in the Poseidon cabin-for two*

The next morning Chiron let us sleep in an hour late since we were so exhausted. By the time I showered, dressed, and went to breakfast, it was eight thirty.

I caught Annabeth's eye as I sat down at the Poseidon table, and she blushed and smiled. I grinned back at her before I got up to scrape a part of my meal into the fire. I murmured to Poseidon and Athena, "Thank you. For letting us be together."

I went back to my table and finished my breakfast. When I was done I left for my cabin. I was debating whether or not to put on my trunks and go swimming when there was a knock on my door. I opened it to find Annabeth standing in front of my cabin.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey yourself," she said. "Can I come in?"

I blushed. "Uh, sure."

She came in, and I closed the door behind her. She immediatly pulled me to her to kiss me.

"What about camp rules?" I asked. "We aren't supposed to be here alone."

"Since when do we follow the rules?" she laughed, still kissing me.

I shrugged. "True."

"And besides," she said, "it can be a 'party.' For just the two of us."

"And what are we celebrating?" I asked. She wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist.

"Us," she whispered. "Being together."

We fell back on my bed, laying on our sides and our limbs intwined as much as possible.

"Then let's celebrate," I murmured against her lips.

We didn't speak again for a while. We didn't do anything drastic, either. We just spend, oh, maybe an hour or two kissing on my bed.

I had to admit, having Annabeth as a girlfriend was pretty much the awesomest thing in the world.

***So, what did ya think? I told you it would be short. I just wanted to end it here while it was a Percabeth moment. lol**

**Anyway, I'll have something new posted for A New Change as soon as I am able to. I don't have writer's block anymore, I know exactly what to do with Calypso and Leo. ;D After I get more of that story done I'll post something new I'm working on that people will probably hate me for at first, but I know I'll have everyone sayin 'awww' by the end of it. ;)***


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